


round & round (like a horse on a carousel) we go

by mugofchai



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Brooding, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Kind of canon divergent, M/M, Rating might go up, Tags to be added, jonathan is nuts but the batman has issues too, kinda dark if you squint, not really entirely healthy, waynecrane - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:06:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugofchai/pseuds/mugofchai
Summary: batman has unanswered questions and only the evasive dr. crane can answer them.but will he?
Relationships: Batman/Scarecrow, Jonathan Crane/Bruce Wayne, batcrow, waynecrane
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	round & round (like a horse on a carousel) we go

**Author's Note:**

> kind of canon-divergent after batman the dark knight rises.  
> this is another (dead) fandom i got into super late but i have fallen down the rabbit hole.  
> also, this is my first batman fic, so please let me know how it is!

It was always a cat and mouse game with them it seemed, a never ending game of chase. It was thrilling and aggravating, and something he was sure entirely unsuited to an idea committed to fighting for justice. In an odd way, it felt wrong.

But it couldn’t be denied. Whenever there was massive threat to Gotham, the strings led to the mad doctor in one way or another. Always. It was a pattern he couldn’t unsee after he’d noticed it.

The maddening thing was that the bastard was genius enough to not just escape the prison he’d once worked at, but to make a living for himself on top of successfully evading law enforcement. And that was saying something, since Gotham had been on the road to improvement since he’d decided to help out every now and then. The police department especially had reformed for the better with more dedicated officers joining the ranks.

But this time, Batman had a trail again, and this time Bruce would not let him slip off the radar. This time the doctor had caught his attention, and Batman was determined to find answers to his questions.

It had been hard when he first noticed Alfred’s worried glances and the way the man would simply purse his lips when Bruce mentioned wanting to find a way to put the man behind bars indefinitely. In a way he realized how his thought process and behavior might have come off as obsessive, but he figured the man could note the obvious. That with every major attack that befell Gotham, Crane seemed to be entangled on the wrong side.

He shook his head to clear it of the invasive thoughts, snapping his attention back to watching the warehouse from his perch in the shadows. He was certain he had the right location, but Crane was a slippery bastard. The Batman wanted to ensure the criminal entered and had nowhere to escape to once he followed him in.

Sure enough, a rickety truck rumbled up the cobbled path and stopped at the warehouse. The two thugs who jumped out first, and that’s the thing isn’t it- the Scarecrow always managed to find some goons to follow him, seemed to tower over the doctor in his tattered suit even from the distance.

They disappeared inside quickly, and Batman waited a moment or two more to make sure no other comers were on the way, before quietly slipping inside. The company Crane had brought along were easy enough to dispose of, but that came as no surprise or relief. Time had seemed to make the doctor slower, more disconnected, if Batman didn't know better he'd think the doctor had become more pliant. He didn’t seem to have noticed the quietness that settled over the warehouse, where once he would have been quick to notice such sudden changes and be preparing an attack on the Batman.

Nevertheless, he’d just made himself an easy target. Batman would not, should not, feel guilty about catching him unawares. He's the one in the wrong anyway, slinking into shady places with shady people in the middle of the night.

Something of the doctor's former instincts seemed to click when Batman got within arm’s reach, and Crane ducked down and struck out wildly with his elbow, narrowly missing his assailant’s jaw.

“This is definitely an upgrade from your hole in the Narrows, Doctor,” Batman growled as he twisted the toxin off of and out of the doctor’s reach. Too predictable.

Crane twisted and thrashed in his grip, eyes wide and wild with fear one moment, before he seemed to visibly calm himself down. “T-The hell do you want, Bat-Man?” he spat the name out.

“To send your no-good ass back to Arkham,” he snapped, barely resisting the urge to smash his head against the pillar he’d pushed the doctor up against. It would be so easy.

Even disarmed and disengaged, Crane curled his lip at him in disdain and glared imperiously. “Oh, get off your high horse. You literally run around in a costume and beat people up.”

This time, Batman did slam him into the pillar and felt an odd sense of satisfaction at the pained grunt that escaped his prisoner. “What are you doing here Crane?” he growled, losing patience.

He regretted it almost immediately, because he’d really wanted to know something else. It had been bugging him since the whole Bane fiasco had ended, and had really been the reason behind his near-frantic search for the doctor.

Perhaps, he thought, Alfred had seen the situation for exactly what it was while Bruce had been deceiving himself… No matter, he’d find out another day.

“As if I’d tell you, Batman,” he snorted. “What do you take me for?”

The reaction was instant and almost involuntary when he grabbed a fistful of the doctor’s hair and snapped his head back so the criminal could see him. “Rest assured, you will talk.”

The priority right now was to put him somewhere in Arkham where the doctor wouldn’t be able to escape from.

Crane opened his mouth, likely to try for another witty comeback, when the sirens were heard from the distance.

About fucking time.

Batman gagged the doctor, and didn’t the bastard look so smug right now, before tying his hands and feet for good measure and tossing him onto the cold hard floor.

He glanced around at the sparse material in the warehouse, scattered about in the corners. It wasn’t much, but the contents of the packets and bunnies were likely enough to guarantee a life sentence for a man who wasn’t insane. While Crane certainly filled the insanity bill, his continued production and selling of the damn toxin was certain to get him more strictly monitored this time around.

As the sirens got closer and the red and blue lights reached the warehouse, Batman made a swift exit. Car doors slammed and voices rang out, ordering the criminals to drop their weapons and surrender, before barging into the warehouse to find the three criminals bound and waiting to be arrested.

During the commotion, Batman slipped into his car on the far side, away from the lights and the noise, and drove off. He did not think of Crane’s eyes on him as he stood over the bound man, or the glassy sheen that had taken over them. He did not think of the smug, swollen lips curled around the gag and how he wanted to make them bleed.

**Author's Note:**

> ready?
> 
> also look out for the tags *peace*


End file.
